Earlier this month, the Second Life Herald -- an online publication covering developments in the virtual world -- reported that Second Life was refusing new "citizens." The article, by resident staff writer Anechoic Nicole, noted that Linden Lab's recent move to eliminate the credit card requirement resulted in a surge in new residents and additional stress on the Second Life infrastructure. However, the article says the block on new registrations was only temporary, and new residents can once again join Second Life.
It is not surprising that Linden Lab has the ability to shut off the inflow of new registrations. As I have noted before, the infrastructure is creaky and cannot easily scale to handle large numbers of users.
However, I believe the move to eliminate the credit card requirement is a step in the right direction to making the world more inclusive. I pointed out last year that not all young people have credit cards, so removing that barrier really opens SL up to a lot of new participants.
Another step to encourage participation: Improving the Second Life user interface, by streamlining and simplifying the tools available to residents, or even creating a "Lite" version for casual browsers or users who just want to dip their toes in the virtual sea.
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